Roll for transporting,drafting and/or treating continuous fiber tow and the like



Dec. 2, 1969 D. 1. SAXON 3,481,012

ROLL FOR TRANSPORTING, DRAFTING AND/OR TREATING CONTINUOUS FIBER TOW AND THE LIKE Filed. June 17, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 TO CRIMPER AND OTHER OPERATIONS DRAFTER ROLLS PULL ROLLS O T F l G. I

WATER BATH r HOT DRAFTER ROLLS 2f HEAT SET OVEN J CR9 9 A N 4 a 2*; LL] 5 :13

g DANIEL a. SAXON O INVENTOR.

BY/LJZLL. TMMiLQWw/ AT'E'O R N E YS Dec. 2, 1969 o. I. SAXON 3,481,012

ROLL FOR TRANSPORTING, DRAFTING AND/OR TREATING CONTINUOUS FIBER TOW AND THE LIKE Filed June 17, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

DANIEL I. SAXON INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS Dec. 2, 1969 D. l. SAXON 3,481,012

ROLL FOR TRANSPORTING, DRAFTING AND/OR TREATING CONTINUOUS FIBER Tow AND THE LIKE Filed June 17, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 DANIEL l. SAXON INVENTOR.

BY Jfwm 0L ATTORNIEYS Dec. 2, 1969 D. sAxoN 3,481,012

ROLL FOR TRANSPORTING, DRAFTING AND/OR TREATING CONTINUOUS FIBER TOW AND THE LIKE Filed June 17, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 DANIEL I. SAXON INVENTOR.

BY MM Jaw; WWW 7 ATTORNEYS United States Patent ROLL FOR TRANSPORTING, DRAFTING AND/ OR l'ldfigtTlNG CONTINUOUS FIBER TOW AND THE Daniel I. Saxon, Kingsport, Tenn., assignor to Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed June 17, 1968, Ser. No. 737,732 Int. Cl. D02j 13/00; D0111 13/28 US. Cl. 28--71.3 16 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A roll that may be used to transport, draft and/or treat as by cooling or heating continuous length synthetic fiber tow in the production of textile fibers, the roll having an inner cylindrical shell with lands and channels extending parallel to the axial length of the inner shell and which are spaced around the circumference of the inner shell and an outer, relatively thinner cylindrical shell being reinforcingly supported against crushing by the lands of the inner cylindrical shell and the channels being adapted to conduct a high velocity turbulent flow of fluid medium therethrough in heat transferring relation with the outer shell so that the fiber tow may either be cooled or heated as desired.

This invention is directed to a roll that may be used singly or in a series with other like rolls for transporting and drafting, as well as treating as by cooling or heating continuous length synthetic fiber tow in the production of textile fibers.

Fiber tow is a band of many continuous filaments that are combined for convenience in processing and which may have weight per unit length of many thoussand denier.

In the production of textile fibers from continuous length synthetic fiber tow, the synthetic fiber tow must be transported from and through various treating stations, such as heating, drafting, heat setting, cooling and liquid baths in order to impart to the fibers in the tow certain desired physical and chemical properties. One wellknown practice is that of heat setting synthetic materials, such as materials including polyester fibers of polyethylene terephthalate, at a constant length in order to produce a high tenacity fiber. One process for making high tenacity fiber, when it is to be used as staple fiber in blends with cotton or other material, includes spinnning a molten polymer into continuous length fibers, drawing the fibers, heat setting the fibers, while maintaining the fibers at constant length, then crimping, lubricating and cutting the continuous length fibers into desired staple lengths. One process in general use for heat setting while maintaining the continuous length fibers at constant length involves passing the fibers in the form of a band or tow over a series of heated rolls. An example of the use of a heated roll that also serves to transport fiber tow may best be disclosed and described in the Burdick US. Patent 3,282,332, Nov. 1, 1966. Another process involves passing the continuous length fibers over a drum surface having a series of perforated holes through which hot air is blown. An example of the use of perforated drums for heat setting filamentary tow may best be disclosed and described in the Clapp et al. US. Patent 3,177,555, Apr. 13, 1965.

In the processing of a continuous synthetic fiber tow or band, such as of polyethylene terephthalate materials, it is necessary to evaporate moisture that is received in earlier processing stages from the band before it is possible to raise the band to heat setting temperatures. The

3,481 ,012 Patented Dec. 2, 1969 fiber tow or band may be passed through various heat setting arrangements which will evaporate the moisture and raise the temperature to heat setting levels, but certain compromises are usually required. Either the speed of the tow through the heat setting arrangement must be greatly slowed, or the arrangement itself must be made of such length as to allow the tow to remain the necessary time period to accomplish both moisture evaporation and heat setting functions, or the tow must make multiple passages in the heat setting arrangement, or it may be necessary to have a combination of any or of all of these compromises.

In order to process synthetic fiber tow at a greater rate, and hence increase production, it is desirable to find some arrangement which will enable greater efliciency to be obtained from a heat setting arrangement that may be already in use, such as the use of a heat setting oven, so that the fiber tow can be passed through the heat setting oven at a greater speed. It has occurred to me that if it were possible in some manner to effectively heat the drafter rolls at a stage of operation preceding the heat setting stage, that both drafting and some or all evaporation of moisture could be achieved by one of the stages of the fiber tow processing operation.

I was aware, however, that there were certain disadvantages that had to be overcome before a drafter roll stage could be used to achieve both functions of drafting and moisture evaporation. In the first place, consideration had to be given to how to obtain uniform heat distribution over the surfaces of the drafter rolls and how to heat uniformly the tow passing through the drafting operation. If the tow were not uniformly heated, even at the drafting stage and prior to the heat setting stage, then the dye take-up by the end product would be streaky and not uniform. In the second place, consideration had to be given to how a drafter roll could be constructed to withstand the tremendous force that would be exerted by a tow band while being drafted without collapsing the roll surface and while assuring transmission of uniform heat distribution over the roll surface. The,most economical manner of heating a roll appeared to me to be by the use of a circulating fluid medium in the interior of the roll, but if the outer shell of the roll were made thin enough to ensure effective heat transmission of the fluid medium through the outer shell to the fiber tow or hand, then there would be the risk that the outer shell would soon collapse due to the thousands of pounds that would be exerted by a multi-filament band that might be eight inches and greater in width. A still further consideration was that it was desirable to use cantilevered rolls, i.e., rolls that were supported for rotation only at one axial end in order to facilitate setting up a fiber tow processing operation by merely sliding a fiber band edgewise over the free end of the roll rather than undesirably threading the band longitudinally or end first over a roll that was supported for rotation at both axial ends.

The roll construction disclosed by the above-mentioned Burdick patent was not suitable for my purposes because the outer shell 30 was not thought capable of withstanding collapse in the use of a tow of 900,000 denier and greater, especially considering the possibility of roll wraps that usually happen in fiber tow process ing operations of this nature. Also, the circulating arrangement for the heat transfer medium was not suitable for my purposes since the fluid medium first circulated to the space 34 at the far end of the roll, which space was between an end plate 26 and the roll end closure 32, before the fluid medium could ultimately pass to an annular space 38 so as to accomplish any heat transfer effect with the roll surface. Since the tow is not going to be in contact with the end surface of the roll, I did not see why it was necessary to expend any heat (or cooling) to such end surface.

I did not believe I could accomplish effective heat transfer with the roll construction disclosed by Hold et al. in US. Patent No. 2,875,985 because his outer shell was too thick. Also, the roll construction disclosed by Maloney et al. in US. Patent No. 2,867,414, although desirably having an outer shell that was relatively thin with loading forces imposed on the roll being carried by the inner core, did not have a fluid heat transfer medium circulating arrangement that was suitable for my purposes so as to obtain uniform heat distribution over the outer roll surface. In Maloney et al. the fluid medium was disclosed as entering the space between the outer shell and inner core through spaced helical or spirally extending grooves 23. Since the Maloney et al. roll construction was supported for rotation at both axial ends, the arrangement was such that the fluid medium would enter from both axial ends so that alternate helical grooves 23 would be supplied in opposite directions. In this manner attempt was made to strive for substantially a uniform transfer effect through the roll surface. Since I required a cantilevered roll construction, I could not use the alternate circulating arrangement disclosed arrangement disclosed by Maloney et 211. Also I could not use a spiral groove arrangement since by the time the fluid medium circulated along the spiral or helical grooves to the far end of the roll, there would have been undesirably a change in the temperature of the fluid medium from one end to the other and hence I would not obtain uniform heating or cooling along the outer surface of the roll.

The Dickens et al. roll construction disclosed in US. Patent No. 3,363,328 was also not suitable for my purposes because in the first place the outer shell 10, even through the grooves 26 through which the fluid medium would pass desirably extended in an axial direction, was too massive and expensive to fabricate. The thickness of the shell was stated to be about 1% inches, with the ribs being 2 inches in height, and the ribs 25 and grooves 26 having widths of about 1% inches. It is not only expensive but also difiicult if not impossible to mill and very expensive to broach ribs and grooves on the interior surface of an outer shell. Furthermore, with the outer shell being as thick as indicated, there would be considerable problem with obtaining uniform temperature due to heat inertia or lag in control of the temperature.

Accordingly, an object of my invention is to provide an improved roll construction in which the outer shell, the outer surface of which is to be in contact with a continuous fiber tow or band, is not only of relatively thin construction so as to obtain along the outer surface an effective, uniform heat transfer relation with the fiber band, but will also be capable of withstanding, without collapsing, the relatively large forces exerted by the'fiber tow that is being transported and drafted by the roll, which fiber tow may be on the order of 900,000 denier and greater.

Another object is to provide an improved roll construction having an inner cylindrical shell provided with spaced lands and channels that extend parallel to the axial length of the inner shell and which are spaced around the circumference of the inner shell for support of a relatively thin outer cylindrical shell with the pressure forces exerted by a continuous fiber tow or band being imposed through the outer shell upon the inner cylindrical shell and its lands, and with the channels between the lands serving as conduits for a fluid medium by which uniform heat transfer is effected over the surface of the roll and between the roll surface and the fiber tow.

Still another object is to provide an improved roll construction having an inner shell and a relatively thin outer shell spacedly supported from the inner shell by a plurality of lands that extend axially of the inner shell, and with the channels between the lands serving as conduits for a fluid heat transfer medium, and with the spacing between the surface of each channel and the parallel inside surface of the outer shell being such as to promote a high velocity turbulent flow of the fluid medium for more effective heat transfer through the relatively thin outer shell to the fiber tow in contact with the outer roll surface.

A further object is to provide an improved roll construction suitable for transporting and treating as by cooling or heating and/ or drafting a continuous length synthetic fiber tow, which roll construction may be supported for rotation only at one axial end, and which construction enables there to be a more rapid circulation of the fluid heat transfer medium by greatly reducing the volumetric capacity of the interior of the roll and by constructing conduits between the inner and outer shells in such manner that the fluid flow along the conduits will be highly turbulent so that there will be essentially no difference in the temperature of the fluid medium entering the roll and the temperature of the fluid medium leaving the roll.

Other objects inherent in the nature of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains from the drawings and the description in the specification.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view in the nature of a flow sheet showing some of the operating stages that may immediately precede and follow that hot drafter rolls in one of the drafting stages;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the hot drafter rolls with a portion of the outer cylindrical shell removed to illustrate the inner cylindrical shell, the lands spacing the outer shell from the inner shell, the channels between the lands and the apertured passageways that enable communication of the fluid medium between the interior of a roll and the channels;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view in elevation of the hot drafter roll and further illustrates in solid line arrows the fluid flow path that may be followed and in phantom line arrows an alternate fluid flow path; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the hot drafter roll taken along line 44 of FIG. 3.

In reference to FIG. 1 of the drawings, one form of apparatus arrangement is disclosed in which the novel hot drafter rolls may be used. The fiber tow or band 10 passes through an initial drafting stage at 12, a water bath stage at 14, a second drafting stage at 16, into a steam chest or tube shown at 18, then through the drafting stage shown at 20 in which the hot drafter rolls of the invention are employed, into the heat set oven stage at 22, through the pull-rolls stage shown at 24, and then on to the crimper and other operations (not shown) with the end product in this instance being stable fibers of predetermined length which may be used in blends with cotton and other fibers.

The hot drafter rolls illustrated in drafting stage 20 cooperate with the rolls 26 in the heat set oven stage 22 and the rolls in the pull-roll stage 24 to hold the fiber at a constant length while the fiber tow is being heat set in the heat set oven stage 22. The number of hot drafter rolls is a matter of choice dependent upon such factors as moisture content of the fiber tow leaving the steam tube stage 18, speed of the tow, and so forth.

In reference now to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the hot drafter roll per se is shown at 28, and as may be seen from FIG. 3 it is essentially a hollow roll that may be cantilevered or supported for rotation only at one axial end as by hollow drive shaft 30.

The hot drafter roll 28 has an outer cylindrical shell 32 and an inner cylindrical shell 34. The outer cylindrical shell is relatively thinner than the inner cylindrical shell, and is spaced from the inner cylindrical shell by a plurality of lands 36 that extend parallel to the axial length of and around the circumference of the inner shell 34. The outermost surfaces 38 of the lands are adapted to abut the inside peripheral surface of the outer cylindrical shell 32, and thus support the relatively thinner outer shell from forces that would otherwise tend to crush the outer shell.

Channels 40 may be milled in the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylindrical shell 34. This will result in the formation between each pair of adjacent channels a land 36, and of course between the lands conduits for the circulation of a fluid medium to effect heat transfer between the fluid medium and the outer cylindrical shell 32 with which the fiber tow is to be in contact.

In order to give some idea as to possible relative dimensions of the roll, the outer cylindrical shell 32 may be about inch thick, the height of the land 36 may be about inch, and the thickness of the inner cylindrical shell 34 (exclusive of the land height) may be about inch. The width of the land may be about A; inch and the width of the channel 40 may be about 1% inches. These dimensions are not to be considered to limit the invention because the dimensions could be scaled upwardly or downwardly, if desirable, for use in constructing a similar roll capable of withstanding either greater or lesser forces and for processing fiber tow having greater or lesser widths. The real significance of these dimensions is thought to be in the fact that if the outer cylindrical shell 32 were not supported in the manner taught by my invention, it would be necessary to make the outer shell about five times thicker than that illustrated in the drawings. In the instance, then, of the dimensions given, five times as thick would make the outer shell nearly one inch thick, lacking an inch by A inch. Since the resistance to heat transfer through the outer shell 32 would be in direct proportion to its thickness, then the resistance to heat transfer of the thicker (nearly one inch thick) unsupported outer shell would be increased about five times. Therefore an advantage of my invention is that I am able to use a relatively thinner outer shell (by comparison to the thickness of the inner shell) and thus, in the instance of the aforementioned dimensions reduce heat transfer resistance to the outer shell by nearly five times.

Still another advantage is that the thicker inner shell will support the outer shell by means of the lands against the crushing force that may be exerted by a fiber tow that is being transported and drafted at the same time. The improved roll construction will make it possible for the hot drafter rolls to cooperate with other stages of the fiber tow processing operation to hold the fiber tow at constant length while the fiber tow is being heat set in the stage illustrated at 22 in FIG. 1. The outer shell 32 will also be supported against the crushing forces possible in the event of an unplanned roll wrap, which happens quite frequently in operations involving processing of synthetic continuous filamentary materials.

Another advantage, which makes the dimension inch for the approximate width of the land 36 more significant, is that the lands will not only serve to adequately support the outer shell against crushing forces but are also each narrow enough so as not to interfere with maintaining the surface temperature of the outer shell 32 in a uniform manner. This latter aspect is enhanced when it is considered that each channel 40 is far greater in width (about 1% inches) or greater than ten times the width of one land. This uniform surface temperature will be more eflicient in effecting heat transfer with the fiber tow or band that comes into contact with the roll 28.

Still another advantage, and further significance of the approximate inch dimension in referring to the height of the lands 36, is that the flow of the fluid medium will be highly turbulent, which is to say that the flow will be of such high velocity that the temperature of the fluid medium passing through each channel will be a single temperature, and thus there will not be layers of the fluid medium in channels 40 with each layer having a different temperature from another layer.

In reference now to the remaining structure of the hot drafter roll 28 that has not been discussed thus far, the outer cylindrical shell 32 is reinforcingly supported at either end by annular walls such as the annular ring 42 and the annular plate or gudgeon 44, each of which abuts the inside peripheral surface of and near one of the ends of the outer shell, and which also abuts one of the surfaces of the inner shell 34. Annular ring 42 and gudgeon 44 may also be secured to the inside peripheral surface of the outer shell 32 and in this manner will facilitate assembly of the roll 28, as will be evident later in this description. Another annular ring 46 that is located axially outwardly of annular ring 42 not only serves to further reinforce one end of the outer shell 32 but also provides a structure to which end closure 46 may be suitably secured, as by screws 48. Annular ring 46 also serves another purpose to be described later.

The inner cylindrical shell 34 is further reinforced and stiffened at one end by a bulkhead structure constituted by the combination of annular ring 50, that may be secured as by welding to the inside peripheral surface of inner shell 34, and the annular plate 52. The bulkhead structure abuts the inside peripheral surface of shell 34 and also serves another purpose that will be described later.

The annular ring 46 may also be suitably connected, as by welding, to the dome-shape plug member 54 so as to support the plug member in the centralized location illustrated in FIG. 3. The plug member 54 drastically reduces the volumetric capacity of the interior of the hollow hot drafter roll 28 for reasons that will be discussed in more detail later.

In reference specifically to FIG. 3, it will be apparent that the hot drafter roll 28 may be readily assembled to the drive shaft 30. The end of the drive shaft seats within the annular recess 56 formed in the gudgeon 44, and is connected to the roll 28 through the agency of the gudgeon by bolts 58. The bolts 58 may also serve to connect annular plate 60 to the gudgeon. The annular plate 52 may be connected to the annular ring 50 as by bolts 62.

The two annular plates 60 and 52 serve, respectively, to support and space in concentric manner one end of concentric conduits 64 and 66 that extend through the hollow drive shaft 30.

Annular ring 46, and its attached plug member 54, is connected to annular ring 42 by bolts 68, with a suitable gasket 70, such as a spiral round gasket, serving to provide a seal between annular rings 46 and 42 to prevent escape of the fluid medium through the end of the outer cylindrical shell at the location where annular ring 46 abuts the interior surface of outer shell 32.

When the hot drafter roll 28 is fully assembled to the drive shaft, there will be a flow chamber 72 the boundaries of which are defined by the plug member 54, inner shell 34, annular ring 50, annular plate 52 and portions of annular ring 42, annular ring 46 and gasket 70; and a flow chamber 74, the boundaries of which are defined by inner shell 34, annular ring 50, annular plate 52, gudgeon 44 and annular plate 60.

The flow of the fluid heat transfer medium may enter the hot drafter roll 28 through one of the concentric conduits 66, as shown by the path represented by the solid line arrows in FIG. 3. The fluid medium enters into chamber 72, toward one end of roll 28 through apertures 76 that constitute multiple passageways formed in the inner cylindrical shell 34 for communication with channels 40. The fluid medium passes along the channels 40 and exits through the multiple passageways or apertures 76 at the opposite end of the roll into chamber 74 for passage out of the roll through concentric conduit 64. The flow pattern may be reversed as illustrated in FIG. 3 by the path represented by the dotted line arrows. The reason for the alternate flow arrangement is that by use of the multiple rolls shown at stage 20 in FIG. 1 fluid flow may be reversed in alternate rolls to further reduce any possible tendency that there might be for any nonuniform heating across the width of the fiber tow or band 10.

The volumetric capacity of the roll 28 is drastically reduced by the plug member 54, which extends into chamber 72 in a direction parallel to and concentric with the axis of the roll, so as to assure a more rapid circulation of the fluid medium and so as to avoid as much as possible needless and wasteful heating of the roll end surface as constituted by end closure 46 with which the fiber tow does not come into contact.

Hence another of the advantages of my roll construction will now be evident from the description given thus far. I have discussed the width dimension of the lands 36, the greater width dimension of the channels 40 (about 1% inches) as compared to the land, the thickness dimension (about inch) of the inner cylindrical shell 34, the chambers 72 and 74, and the highly turbulent flow of the fluid medium along the channels 40. I have indicated that highly turbulent flow means that the fluid will be at one temperature without there being other fluid layers at different temperatures. This is made possible not only due to the relatively small height of the channel or land (about inch), but is also promoted by the substantial contact that the fluid medium will have with both the inside peripheral surface of the inner cylindrical shell 34 and the channel side of inner shell 34, and promoted still further by the fact that the thickness of the inner shell is not so great as to constitute a heat sink that might otherwise end to induce a layer of fluid medium of different temperature in the channels 40.

The aforementioned advantage is further enhanced by the previously discussed novel features of my construction such as by the reduced volumetric capacity of the interior of the roll by the plug member 54 which also substantially prevents needless and wasteful heating of the end closure 46. Thus with the reduced volumetric capacity, there will be a more rapid flow of fluid into the chambers and along the channels without needlessly promoting stagnant areas in the interior of roll where the fluid medium might otherwise tend to remain longer and thereby possibly affecting the fresh incoming fluid medium.

In order to cool the drive shaft as well as the bearing 78 that is intended to cooperate with structure not shown, apertures 80 are formed through the shaft adjacent the gudgeon 44. In this manner, as the drive shaft 30 rotates, air may be drawn through the axial passageway 82 that is formed between the inner surface of the drive shaft 30 and the outer surface of concentric conduits 64, and thereafter the air may be exhausted through the apertures 80 to the atmosphere. Due to the partial vacuum produced at the mouth of the apertures 80 as the drive shaft rotates, a relatively high flow rate of cool air occurs along the axial passageway 82. The structure to which the drive shaft 30 and bearing 78 are connected for rotation is not disclosed because it is not deemed to constitute part of the invention.

The fiber tow or band 10 is only intended to come into contact with that part of the roll surface that overlies and is thus co-extensive with the axial length of the channels 40. Thus I am only concerned in maintaining uniform temperature along this portion of the roll surface. Also, it should be apparent that the fluid heat transfer medium may be a cold fluid medium as well as a hot fluid medium, depending on whether it is desired to treat the fiber tow by cooling or by heating.

Reference has been made throughout the specification to a fiber tow or continuous filament fiber tow. It will of course be recognized by those skilled in the art that. the roll construction illustrated is also capable of being used with film, and other continuous length flexible material. Further, the reference to the term synthetic as applied to fiber tow is intended to apply to any man-made fiber, such as from cellulose material or its derivative and from non-cellulosic material. Accordingly, it will be understood that any reference in the claims to either of the quoted expressions above is not intended to limit application of the roll construction for use with only fiber tow or synthetic fiber tow.

Although the invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described hereinabove.

I claim:

1. A roll that can be used for transporting, drafting and treating synthetic continuous filament fiber tow, said roll having an outer cylindrical shell and an inner cylindrical shell, said outer shell being relatively thinner than said inner shell, said inner shell having lands and channels between the lands, the outermost surfaces of the lands being adapted to abut the inside peripheral surface of said outer shell and support said outer shell against collapse due to forces exerted by the fiber tow, the lands extending parallel to the axial length of the inner shell and being spaced around the circumference of the outer surface of said inner shell.

2. A roll as defined in claim 1, said roll adapted to be cantilevered and supported for rotation at only one axial end.

3. A roll as defined in claim 1, said inner cylindrical shell defining therewithin chambers adapted to contain for passage therethrough a fluid heat transfer medium that will be in heat transferring relation with substantially the axial length of the inner shell so as to minimize any possible heat sink effect the inner shell might have.

4. A roll as defined in claim 3, and wherein said inner cylindrical shell defines therein multiple apertured passageways that are in communication with the chambers and the channels for enabling a fluid heat transfer medium to pass through the chambers and the channels so that said fluid heat transfer medium will be brought into heat transferring relation with substantially the inner and outer surface of said inner shell and with the inner surface of said outer shell and thereby promote an effective turbulent flow of the fluid medium along the channels in order to obtain a uniform heat transfer relation through the outer shell and with the fiber tow as the fiber tow comes into contact with the roll.

5. A roll as defined in claim 1, and wherein said roll has therewithin at either end annular means adapted to abut the inside surface of said outer cylindrical shell and the end surface of said inner cylindrical shell and stiffen in supporting relation said inner and outer cylindrical shells.

6. A roll as defined in claim 5, and wherein said roll also has therewithin at one end bulkhead means adapted to abut the inside surface of and stiffen in supporting relation said cylindrical shell.

7. A roll as defined in claim 5, and wherein said roll has a drive shaft axially abutting with and assembled to one of said annular means for rotating said roll,

8. A roll that can be used for transporting, drafting and treating synthetic continuous filament fiber tow, said roll comprising:

an outer shell and an inner supporting shell, the outer shell being relatively thinner than said inner shell and the inner shell having means spaced about its circumference for abutting said outer shell in supporting relation;

said means defining therebetween channels through which a fluid heat transfer medium may circulate in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the outer shell and with substantially the outer peripheral surface of said inner shell;

wall means extending within the interior of said roll and in supporting relation with both the inner and outer shells, said wall means further defining at least two chambers and including a dome-shape structure that extends Within one of the chambers to reduce its volumetric capacity and which is sealingly and supportedly connected to one of said wall means;

said inner shell further defining therethrough for communication between said channels and said chambers apertured passageways through which said fluid medium may circulate between the channels and the chambers; and

conduit means extending into said roll and into each of said chambers for enabling the fluid medium to flow into and return from said chambers.

9. A roll as defined in claim 8, and wherein said domeshape structure extends into said one of the chambers in a direction parallel to and concentric with the axis of said roll.

10. A roll as defined in claim 8, and further comprising a drive shaft that is connected to one end of said roll so that the roll may be rotated in cantilevered manner.

11. A roll as defined in claim 10, and wherein said conduit means extends into said roll through said drive shaft.

12. A roll as defined in claim 10, and wherein said drive shaft defines therewithin an axial passageway, and further defines apertured passageways that are in communication with the atmosphere, said aperturcd passageways being adapted to create a partial vacuum when said roll is rotated and thereby to pull a flow of cooling air through said axial passageways and out of apertured passageways of said shaft for cooling the drive shaft from the heat of the fluid heat transfer medium.

13. A roll as defined in claim 9, and wherein said domeshape structure and said one of the wall means to which the dome-shape structure is sealingly and supportedly connected are adapted to cooperate together to isolate the flow of the fluid heat transfer medium from coming into contact with one end of the roll.

14. A roll as defined in claim 8, and wherein said chainbers are arranged and adapted to expose substantially the axial length of and the interior surface of said inner shell to said fluid medium to maintain the interior surface of said shell at substantially the same temperature as that of said fluid heat transfer medium.

15. A roll as defined in claim 8, and wherein said means spaced about the circumference of the inner shell are lands that extend outwardly from the inner shell and also extend in a direction parallel to the axial length of the inner shell, and the apertured passageways of said inner shell are formed at either end of the inner shell and between each of the lands and open through the surface of each channel between adjacent lands.

16. A roll as defined in claim 15, and wherein each of said channels has a width greater than ten times that of the width of any one land.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,175,205 10/ 1939 Lovett 28--71.3 3,230,347 1/1966 Beck 28-62 X 3,364,669 1/1968 Schippers et al. 3,420,983 1/ 1969 McCard et al 28-62 X LOUIS K. RIMRODT, Primary Examiner US. 01. x12, zs sg PO-1050 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION patent 5 1, 12 Dated December 16, 1969 Inventor(s) 138111161 1. Saxon I1 is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

T Column 5, line 22, after "uniform" the following word 1 -heatshould have been included; column 6, line 15, "46" should read -47--; column 6, line 47, "round" should read -wound-; column 7, line 57, "46" should read "-47-";

In Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing, "46" which is directed to the end face of the roll should have been changed to -47.

SIGNED AND SEALED JUL 2 31970 @EAL) Attest:

Edward M. Fletcher II. A E. m. Attesting Officer commissioner of Patents TEC 10201 

